Edward Sheil (1851 – 3 July 1915) was
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
politician. He was a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for
Athlone
Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midlands Region with a population of ...
from 1874 to 1880, for
Meath from 1882 to 1885, and for
South Meath from 1885 to 1892, taking his seat in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...
.
Sheil was the eldest son of the soldier and diplomat General
Sir Justin Sheil
Major-General Sir Justin Sheil (2 December 1803 – 18 April 1871) was an Irish army officer and diplomat, the British envoy in Persia from 1844 to 1854.
Life
The son of Edward Sheil and Catherine McCarthy, and brother of Richard Lalor Sheil, he ...
and nephew of
Richard Lalor Sheil
Richard Lalor Sheil (17 August 1791 – 23 May 1851), Irish politician, writer and orator, was born at Drumdowney, Slieverue, County Kilkenny, Ireland. The family was temporarily domiciled at Drumdowney while their new mansion at Bellevue, near ...
, a political ally of
Daniel O’Connell
Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...
. His mother was Mary Leonora Woulfe, daughter of the Rt Hon.
Stephen Woulfe, an MP and afterwards
Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer
The Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer was the Baron (judge) who presided over the Court of Exchequer (Ireland). The Irish Court of Exchequer was a mirror of the equivalent court in England and was one of the four courts which sat in the buildin ...
and his wife Frances Hamill. Mary Leonora was a travel writer of some note. He was educated at
The Oratory School
The Oratory School () is an HMC Co-educational independent Roman Catholic day and boarding school for pupils aged 11–18 located in Woodcote, north-west of Reading. Founded in 1859 by Saint John Henry Newman, The Oratory has historical ties t ...
, and
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...
.
At the
1874 general election, when the franchise was still very restricted, he stood as a
Home Rule League
The Home Rule League (1873–1882), sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was an Irish political party which campaigned for home rule for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, until it was replaced by the Irish Parliam ...
candidate and unseated Athlone's sitting
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
MP,
Sir John James Ennis. The poll was initially tied, each candidate scoring 140 votes, but Sheil was declared elected and on petition, the result was amended to 153 votes for Shiel and 148 for Ennis.
In
1880
Events
January–March
* January 22 – Toowong State School is founded in Queensland, Australia.
* January – The international White slave trade affair scandal in Brussels is exposed and attracts international infamy.
* February †...
, Ennis won the seat back by a one-vote majority of 163 to 162. Sheil was returned unopposed for Meath County in a by-election in April 1882, and when the Meath constituency was divided under the
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...
, he was returned unopposed at the
1885 general election as
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish national ...
MP for the newly created
Southern Division of Meath, where he was re-elected unopposed in
1886
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885.
* January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...
.
Sheil acted as Whip of the
Home Rule Party for four years.
In the Split in the
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish national ...
in December 1890 over the leadership of
Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1875 to 1891, also acting as Leader of the Home Rule League from 1880 to 1882 and then Leader of the ...
, he supported Parnell. However, he retired from Parliament at the general election of July 1892, apparently feeling that he could no longer defend the Parnellite cause. He wrote to
John Redmond
John Edward Redmond (1 September 1856 – 6 March 1918) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist politician, barrister, and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. He was best known as lead ...
on 8 February 1892: ‘I am not prepared to continue resistance to what I conceive to be Irish public opinion… , the sympathy of the great majority of electors in Ireland is with the section of the Irish Party led by
Mr. McCarthy’ (i.e. the
Anti-Parnellites).
[National Library of Ireland, Papers of John Redmond, Collection List No.118, p.17]
In retirement, Sheil lived at
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...
, Kent, where he died on 3 July 1915 and was buried on 6 July.
Notes
Sources
* ''
Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'', 7 July 1915
* National Library of Ireland, Papers of John Redmond, Collection List No.118
* Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees, ''Who’s Who of British Members of Parliament'', Vol.2 1886–1918, Sussex, Harvester Press, 1978
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheil, Edward
1851 births
1915 deaths
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Athlone
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Meath constituencies (1801–1922)
Home Rule League MPs
Irish Parliamentary Party MPs
UK MPs 1874–1880
UK MPs 1880–1885
UK MPs 1885–1886
UK MPs 1886–1892
People educated at The Oratory School
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford